Palo Alto Arpt Of Santa Clara Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Palo Alto, California 94303
Friday, February 9, 2001 14:12 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane's right wing struck the ground and the airplane came to rest on the runway following a loss of control on an attempted go-around. The pilot had received 107.9 hours of dual instruction and was making his first solo flight in the airplane. The purpose of the flight was to practice takeoffs and landings. The pilot selected approach flaps on downwind but never checked their position. On short final, the pilot sensed his descent rate was too great and attempted a go-around. The airplane drifted towards the left and then rolled right continuing to descend until it struck the ground. Postcrash examination of the engine and propeller revealed impact damage that was consistent with the propeller having contacted the ground in a high airplane pitch attitude, and a propeller blade angle consistent with a "power on" condition.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot-in-command's delayed decision to go-around and his failure to maintain sufficient airspeed during the attempted go-around. His non-verification of the flap setting contributed to the accident.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/9/2001
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1412
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City Palo Alto
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 94303
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport PALO ALTO ARPT OF SANTA CLARA
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PAO
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 4
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1415 Pacific Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID PAO
Elevation of weather observation facility 4
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.9
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11063
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Feb 9 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 28 2001 7:25AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-FSDO San Jose, CA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3191A
NTSB Number LAX01LA095
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model A36
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number E3291
Certified Max Gross Weight 3833
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 6
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Aug 21 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 107
Airframe Hours 119
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Eliezer Pasternak
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Palo Alto
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 94303
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PAO
Departure City Palo Alto
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - aborted
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 2 2001 4:40PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 31
Runway Length 2500
Runway Width 65
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --